You are my sunshine

I went over to the Cosmo Cricket blog last week and was inspired by the latest challenge. We were to look within ourselves and overcome something that scares us.

Such a powerful inspiration. It took me a while to figure out something that scares me as far as papercrafting was concerned but after a couple of days of contemplation, I found my fear....

You are my sunshine card

I am totally scared of the shabby chic look. I love looking at creations with this style but I'm always afraid of trying it because I always grab the bright colors versus the muted hues. But then since this is a challenge, I said a little prayer and started going through my Cosmo Cricket stash.


I am a person that believes in baby steps. I know I wouldn't be totally happy with a project if it's so away from my norm so with some honey pie papers, an ever after tag, velvet ribbon and glittered blackboard I went to work.

Everything here is Cosmo cricket except the letter stamp and stickles.

So what are you most fearful of? Wanna get over that fear? Well, try my technique and use baby steps. I always feel energized when I try something new.

Thanks for stopping by.

Till next time,
Grace

Remember this moment

I am loving life right now. Not because trials have passed me or that I have more money than I have in the past. No, challenges are still there and even more than say a month ago, but I can honestly say that life is good. I guess one thing that is making me happy right now is that retail has slowed down therefore I get to stay home more and therefore I get to be more crafty than I was compared to late last year.

Yesterday (Saturday) I didn't have to be at work till 4:30 pm and so for most of the day, I was at my scrapbook room, playing with papers. I can't share all of my creations just yet but here's one card I made....

Remember this moment

this one was inspired by the latest challenge over at the Cuttlebug blog. We were to use stitching all over our project.


I took the challenge and made a grid of stitching in my background. I used some leftover supplies from a layout I just finished. I was also able to use an embossing folder that I've tucked away in the "new supplies" basket. I love rummaging through that basket, it feels like Christmas every time.

Need more inspiration? Check out the Crazy Daisy blog today. My minibook from the February kit is up. See more details and explanation behind the book here.


thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Till next time,
Grace

Family Tradition

One of my goals this year was to use up the scrap stash that I have. I have this bond with my papers and sometimes it goes way overboard that I don't want to use them. That's why I've decided to sign up on as much manufacturer challenges that I have time for so I may use up as much products that I can in one layout. The following page is an example of that....

Family Tradition

I've had this Narrative paper from Creative Imaginations for a while now. It's so pretty, how can I use it up? But after a big gulp, I finally did. It actually wasn't that bad! LOL.


I got some pretty CI products from my scrapbook trends goodies and this rubon and brad was some of them. I love how pretty they are.


The narratives journaling block housed my title and journaling. I was very happy at how fast and easy this layout came together, all because of sticking to one brand. Who could've thought?!

and with my new rule to make a card with the products I already have out I made this one......

Gracias card

used another journaling block, this time as a background and to house my card sentiment plus the rubons.


The rubons added the subtle color to this black and white card.

Thank you for looking and have a great weekend.

Till next time,
Grace

Has it really come to this???

Hi everyone and happy Friday.

First off I wanna say thanks to all my new blog readers. Thank you for all the sweet comments. I totally appreciate your kindness and friendship. :)

Anyways, this past three days I've been on a hunt for some specific brand name scrapbook papers. I went online and saw them on my fave online stores but I'm really the type of gal that hates paying for shipping so I resorted to going around town to my local scrapbook stores (of what is left of them) and tried to hunt down the papers.

After four stores, I only got one paper line from the five that I was looking for. And what surprised me the most is the price of them. I have been very blessed to have received so many great papers and products from companies and kit clubs so it's been a while since I really shopped for products other than tools and adhesives. Did you know that one single sheet of double sided pattern paper can run up to $2 a sheet? That is just unbelievable.

I saw papers that I could've gotten online for 89 cents that run me $1.10 at the store. Unbelievable!!! Is this really what the scrapbook industry came down to???

Whether it be online or in store shopping you'd still pay some outrageous prices for paper! I'm really sad about this. I guess the days of .70 cents a paper (good quality, brand name ones) are long gone. So sad!

Well, I don't want to leave you guys with just a sad story so here's a card I made recently....

We are home

I used some scraps here and played with a new stamp I got at the dollar bin at Michael's.


The letter stickers are from Basic Grey, button from Jenni Bowlin Studio and ribbon from Michael's.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Till next time,
Grace

As seen in print.....

I got some of my recently published projects back from Northridge Media and thought I'd post them back up again....

as seen in Cards Dec. 09 issue


as seen in Scrapbook Trends December 09 issue


As seen in the Scrapbook Trends "Quick and Easy Scrapbooking" book, released Jan. 2010


As seen in Scrapbook Trends Jan. 2010 issue


and if you're looking for a quick project to make with scraps.... hop on over to the Crazy Daisy kit blog where I shared how to make this quick project.


Have a great day.

Till next time,
Grace

Upsy Daisy February share....

One of the many perks of being on the Upsy Daisy Designs team is that I get to "play" with their new lines. Have you seen them? They're really cool and my favorite part..... the clever idea of adding a quote or a strip of pattern paper on the end strip of a 12x12 paper that we usually cut off because it has the brand and name of the paper on it. I think that was very clever. Now there's no way we need to throw out any part of our paper. I just LOVE that!

So here's what I made this month...

Check up time

the dt's were given a sketch to be inspired from and this is what I made. I used the new Vogue line. I have to say that I was a little afraid using the paper for something other than a "girly" page but the beautiful blues and greens of the papers just screamed "boy page" to me.


I stayed with the colors scheme even with my title, using green and black.


I created a visual triangle with the circles, star and some newly released UDD bards. I added some stitching for texture and handwritten my journaling.

Love Frame

another assignment we were given was to create something with the "love" theme since February is the month of luuuvvveeee. *wink*


I altered a hanging wall frame with some pretty Blossom papers. Because I love the quote strips on the papers, I didn't think twice to using one of them here.


I also added some of those wonderful newly released brads here. The round tree accent was cut out from one of the pattern papers, I added dimensional adhesive on top of it and made it an instant epoxy accent. Fun stuff.

Thank you for looking and make sure you check out the site for more inspirations from the other design team members.

Till next time,
Grace

Crazy Daisy kit.....

I feel so blessed and very grateful to Kimberly and Jennifer, owners of Crazy Daisy kit, that they've asked me to stay in their design team for another term. Woohooo!!!



The announcement of the new team is up on the blog, plus if you scroll down a little, you'll see the sneek peek of the march kit. Hope on over there to learn more.

Till next time,
Grace

Just a little note to say Thanks

Over at the Cuttlebug blog, their latest challenge was to use fabric.

I love fabric, but I'm one of those people that have a hard time incorporating them into my paper projects. I mean how do I work it when I already have a lot of designs on the project? Well since it is a "challenge", I took the jump and grabbed a few fabric scraps and here's what I made....

Just a little note to say Thanks card

I made yoyo flowers with my fabric. It was actually quiet easy and it turned out cute. That's one thing that I love about challenges, it helps me to get out of my comfort zone and try something new.


I used my very favorite Cuttlebug embossing folder (swiss dot) to add texture to my cardstock background. I also added some scraps from my GCD Studios Artys Urban collection. Then I finished it off with a simple sentiment stamp from Fiskars.

To make sure that the buttons stay on the yoyos, before cutting the thread, I added the buttons threading it a couple of times through to make sure it's secure then tied a knot. This way I know that the buttons won't fall off the flowers.

Thank you for looking.

Till next time,
Grace

You are wonderful

Got the challenge bug over the weekend. I was able to finish two layouts and three cards because I was inspired by a few challenges. Don't you just love things that jumpstart your creativity?

Anyways this one was made with the latest American Crafts challenge in mind. We were to make a layout or card that has the "love" theme. I made mine a layout about my son....

You are Wonderful
PULLED OUT FOR PUBLICATION
this layout was made primarily because I wanted to incorporate a letter that I wrote for him. You see, ever since he was young there have been some people that have insinuated that he is either Autistic or ADD. Now I didn't dismiss the idea, infact I did some of my own research to see if he was truly in that "spectrum". But every time I did look at the symptoms, he can't be consider as one. The letter tells about how I feel about always having to be in the defensive mode about him and his "boyish" behaviors towards people that don't know him. I also told him (in the letter) that I love him and I think he is "wonderful" no matter what else anybody says.

PULLED OUT FOR PUBLICATION
Everything here is American crafts excep the buttons, tools and the cardstock.

PULLED OUT FOR PUBLICATION
I had the letter tucked in underneath the picture.

Supplies used:
Cardstock- The Paper Company
*Pattern paper- (heart, numbers and dots) Everyday line; (green floral) Ala Carte; (brown) Monograms
*Chipboard shapes- My house
*Letter rubons- Frank, Mini Marks
*Boy rubon- Kids book two, Mini Marks
*Letter stickers- (brown) Giggles; (green) Rockabye, Thickers
*Black pen- Slick Writer
Buttons- Basic Grey
Border Punch- Fiskars
Journaling font- Century Gothic, MS Word

*American Crafts products

Congrats Card

and because I'm in the trend of making cards with scraps, I made this one from the leftovers of my layout


I sewn on the button to the layered flowers to make sure that it stays intact. I also used a rubon sentiment to make this a fast and easy card.

Thank you for looking.

Till next time,
Grace

Wild and Free card

Because of my son's love for red, I've got accustomed to incorporating red into my masculine/boy projects. This one is an example of that....

Wild and free card

PULLED OUT FOR PUBLICATION

this card was made based on the latest Get Sketchy sketch. I like the simple style of it and how easy it is to adapt to my papers and theme.

PULLED OUT FOR PUBLICATION

I used some more of the wonderful My Mind's Eye that I used in the past layout and card. The sentiment came from the same collection.

Till next time,
Grace